According to Barnett, who gave a statement via his manager to Ariel Helwani on "The MMA Hour," he was more than happy to face "Cigano" in his re-debut for the UFC; however, the contract wasn't up to his standards because the longtime veteran says he should have at least received an offer similar to that of what Eddie Alvarez was offered.

His words:

"I was excited to fight Junior. I thought he was a favorable match up for me, but Zuffa was unwilling to give me something that they gave Eddie Alvarez. No disrespect to Eddie, but I felt it was fair to give it to me as well. Although things seem to be working out well for me, I feel bad for the fans. They wanted me to fight certain guys in the UFC and I really wanted to give them those fights. Once we get the deal we are working on done, the fight the fans scream for will be lost forever."

According to this this report, Alvarez was scheduled to get paid $75,000 to show and another $75, 000 to win purse, including a cut of the pay-per-view (PPV) buys at UFC 159 in which he stood to make an additional $1 for every buy between 200,000 to 400,000 units, $2 for each buy sold between 400,000 to 600,000 units and $2.50 for each buy sold over 600,000 units.

Sounds like a lame cop out from a guy who doesn't want to face top level competition anymore. Josh Barnett is smart enough to know Eddie is getting that contract because he is young enough fighter to invest that kind of money into, Josh is on his last legs as an eliete heavyweight and SHOULD want to spend his last quality years as a professional fighting the best while he can. But I guess pro wrestling in Japan and crushing cans across the world is almost as good to right?